UK Games Expo 2018.

For the third year running I attended the UK Games Expo at the Birmingham NEC as a trader, assisting my buddy Andy with his company DMB Games.

The UKGE is the largest gaming hobby event in the UK that attracts over twenty thousand visitors across the three day event.

Our stand this year was right next door to Games Workshop and Warlord so we couldn't have been better placed and the show was a terrific success for us!

The DMB Gang having a beer with some of the GW crew!

There were seven of us this year helping out, with Andy, Laura, Mark, Grizz and myself setting up from Thursday and Richard and Rob joining us Friday and Saturday respectively.

A couple of pics below show our original layout with a table at the forefront as we wanted to display the new game Rosebyrne Manor. We had a change around on the Saturday with the racks of Bones figures brought to the front.

The main trade hall had extended this year into a second next door. The second hall was predominantly given over to Open Play and Tournament gaming but judging on the numbers attending I would not be surprised if they extend to a third hall next year. It was crazy busy!

Too many traders to even begin to list but the variety of stuff available was amazing - this huge selection of Pokemon at one end, through hundreds of board games, card games and miniature games to RPG's at the other end. This is not really a wargaming show (yet) but there seems to be more and more 'wargamey' traders appearing each year. This will definitely be boosted by GW and Warcradle taking such a strong position and sponsoring the show this year and having huge stands.

Also there representing the miniatures / wargames front were Crooked Dice, Second Thunder, TT Combat, Gaslands, Bushido, Magister Militum, Oathsworn, Rubicon Models and Osprey to name but a few. Great to catch up and chat with Karl and Helena (Crooked Dice) and Carl B (Second Thunder).

One newish company that caught the eye was Atlantis Miniatures. Lovey chaps and beautifully sculted minis. Good job I don't buy fantasy figures anymore or else I would be broke!

This was the hall before the doors opened...just traders at this point.

This was a tiny corner of the Tournaments hall as people began to take their places...

...and finally the main trader hall in full swing!

At the end of the weekend there is an awards ceremony and I am pleased to say DMB won the Judges Award for 'Best New Accessory' for the new resin Dungeon Tiles range!

A few pics of the demo board set up...

And lastly a couple of pics of the new upcoming 'Wilderness' and 'Sci-Fi' ranges that will be released via a Kickstarter by the end of the year (hopefully).

All in all a great, if very exhausting weekend that I highly recommend to any gamers out there, whatever your preference!